Thursday, June 5, 2014

An action-packed,
blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder
rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands
series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a
fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to
kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a
houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an
organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot
starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he
doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a
coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr
keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

My Thoughts

I was so into it that I didn't even notice time passing. [Cummings] is writer that took me to Zephyr and Meadows and despite it being dystopian, I enjoyed my time there. - Nova @ Out of Time

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but what I got surpassed my expectations.
I entered, not having any biases; this is a debut author that I know will be very promising in the future. The Murder Complex was a dark, dystopian story that drew me in and even though I had other obligations in my day, they got swept under the rug so I could finish this enjoyable read.

There were a lot of things that I liked but at the same time, some things that I noticed. Nothing to major, I promise. Small(ish) things that I kind of squinted at.

For some reason, I kept drawing parallels from this book to Divergent, even though they weren't all that similar. It's pretty much between we've got a strong male lead and both characters have to deal with being brave for the sake of other people. Bravery in this book was a pretty huge trait in a bunch of the characters.

There was a lack of world building for me. We were told how the world works, which is great, but in terms of what it looks like and how it differed from 21st Century Earth, I didn't quite catch much. It made visualizing somewhat difficult. I also noticed something interesting about the way Cummings told the story. Instead of explaining things, she made it so the reader is completely on their own. For someone who likes to find out what the world is actually like, they'll pay attention, whereas there are some readers who don't read descriptions and will be confused. In a way, I liked it. I don't like it when a character is telling me how their world works; I can figure it out just fine on my own (if the author writes it decently), thanks.
So the world is set in dystopian where people don't die. There's a cure for diseases so people don't die, so the deathrate is pretty nonexistent. It's said that where MC lives is blocked off (another reason for my Divergent parallels?) and there's a world outside that's even worse.

I love the idea of The Murder Complex. The complex, itself is a system that puts a bunch of random people in a lottery and if you're chosen, you're killed. It's selective from the program but also the only way to keep population control. Unfair, but for me, understandable.

Our main character, Meadow is just so badass. I love her as a character, so much. She's that kind of character that's been trained to survive and not be kind. In this place, it's kill or be killed. She's strong without trying to be and even with all the training she's had to show no mercy, she's still got her humanity intact. This is a character that's all around easy to get to know and sympathize and like.
I also love the male lead and how romance took a backseat. With a dark story like this, romance would've ruined the story in a way where we would lose the effect of danger and urgency. Zephyr was obviously the love interest, but what romance they had was weak... at best. It was really "instalove-ish" and disconnected, even though my emotions ran high during other scenes.

Something that I didn't really like was some of the information told. In one line, Meadow talks about how she's never seen her father cry. In another scene, she's recalling when her mother died and how her father had tears in his eyes. The information changed so I didn't get it. Also, as much as I like the idea of The Murder Complex, I still don't fully get it. We're told there's a "Pin" to keep us healthy and disease-free, but not told that it supposedly makes us immortal. All we know is there's an overpopulation problem.

It wasn't hard to overlook and hopefully, something that will be corrected in the published version. Overall, this is the kind of story that "wows" me from debut authors. I was so deep into this book that I honestly, want the sequel... and this book hasn't even come out yet.

Author Info

Lindsay Cummings is the
20-year-old author of THE MURDER COMPLEX, as well as its sequel, coming
2014 from Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, and the MG trilogy THE
BALANCE KEEPERS, coming Fall 2014 from Katherine Tegen
Books/HarperCollins.

Lindsay deals with chronic fatigue, can’t
get enough of her two pesky German Shepherds, wolf cub, and two horses.
She's still waiting on her letter from Hogwarts--it was probably just
lost in the mail. You can follow Lindsay on twitter @lindsaycwrites.

2 comments:

Yes there wasn't much world-building so I very much ended up hating the book a lot. I just skimmed through it so…it was a DNF. The plot for me also fell flat…The writing wasn't any good for me either. GAAAH I'm glad u still got to enjoy it, though. Lovely review.

I have mixed feelings for this book. I really loved the plot twist and action scenes, but the world building was lacking. Hopefully in The Fear Trials or the sequel, there will be more explanation about the world. I also kept comparing this book to THG and Divergent because some things in the book reminded me of something in THG and Divergent. I also did not like the romance at the beginning, but I ended up liking it during the 2nd half of the book. I was also not aware I was reading the last chapter of the book because I was so hooked onto the last few chapters of the book! SO yeah, I had super mixed feelings with this book but overall I still recommend it. Great review. :D

Share your thoughts! I'm always looking for insight from other readers because hey - your opinion matters! Also, if no one's told you yet, I just want to say that I love your smile and that you should grace all of us with it.

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About Me

nova lee zaiden has spent five years in prison for hacking the pentagon. she's discovered top government secrets and the knowledge could kill her. after escaping, she now hides undercover at local high school in hopes of survival.
if all goes well, she leaves unscathed. if not, she and the cute boy in her math class will have to go on the run. it doesn't help that said boy is the son of the man who wants her dead. they'll have to fight against all odds to expose shocking secrets while resisting their own fatal attraction...
however, since nothing like that has happened yet, you can find nova in her room reading YA books, drinking tea and writing about her fangirl feels.